The 870-kilometre long pipeline will ship natural gas and petroleum all the way from the coastal port in Myanmar to China's Southwest Yunnan Province.

The designed annual capacity is 22 million tonnes for the oil pipeline and 12 billion cubic metres for the gas pipeline. It shortens the distance of transportation originally going through the Malacca Strait, Chinese expert said.

The petroleum and gas would be shipped from Middle East to Myanmar and from there it would pumped to China through the pipeline. The pipeline started to deliver gas to China, official media reported.

Experts estimate that the pipelines will satisfy a quarter of China's natural gas demand every year, and also bring about USD 1.5 billion to Myanmar each year, creating a win-win co-operation between the two countries.

The gas pipeline, co-invested by six parties from four countries including India and South Korea, has a designed annual throughput of 12 billion cubic meters before off-loading in Myanmar.